South Korea Reaches Third Straight Asian Games Women’s Sepaktakraw Final

South Korea advanced to its third consecutive Asian Games women’s team regu final in sepaktakraw on Thursday, defeating Indonesia 2-0 and guaranteeing at least a silver medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.

The semifinal was held at Mizuho Park Gymnasium in Nagoya, where the Korean team took control of the opening regu and then survived a tighter second contest to close out the match. South Korea won the first regu in straight sets, 15-9 and 15-11.

Indonesia responded in the second regu by taking the opening set 15-13. South Korea then rallied to win the next two sets 15-13 and 15-11, completing the team victory without requiring a third regu.

The result extends South Korea’s run of consistency in the event. The country also reached the women’s team regu final at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games and the 2022 Hangzhou Games, earning silver on both occasions. Its latest semifinal win ensures another place on the podium.

South Korea will face Thailand in the gold-medal match at the same venue at 9 a.m. Friday. Thailand swept host Japan 2-0 in the other semifinal and is pursuing a fifth consecutive Asian Games title in the event, a streak that began at the 2010 Guangzhou Games.

The matchup presents South Korea with both a major challenge and an opportunity for a breakthrough. Thailand defeated South Korea in each of the previous two Asian Games finals. The defending champion also won 3-0 when the teams met in the preliminary round of the current tournament.

South Korea finished the round-robin stage in second place with two wins and one loss, behind unbeaten Thailand. Indonesia placed third at 1-2. South Korea had already beaten Indonesia 3-0 in the preliminary round before meeting the same opponent again in the semifinals.

Team regu is a team competition in which each country fields three separate three-player regus. The format requires countries to win a majority of those regu contests.

A victory on Friday would give South Korea its first Asian Games gold in the women’s team regu event. The country’s only sepaktakraw gold across men’s and women’s competition came 24 years ago, in the men’s circle event at the 2002 Busan Games. That history adds significance to a final in which South Korea will again try to unseat the sport’s dominant nation.